It pains me to say that Scrap Metal hasn’t turned out to be a good game. Mainly the lousy controls are to blame. Never do you get the sensation of being in control over your car and this leads to frustration which in turn leads to a lot of fun vanishing. All other upsides and downsides balance each other, but that doesn’t salvage the game. Control is needed in a race game and Scrap Metal has slipped way off track with it.

The genre's classics were more fun, and you have to play irritating "demolition derbies" to progress through the single-player mode. Also, it's overpriced. But, it's more fun than nothing, which is the alternative unless you still have a 16-bit console lying around.

There’s certainly a market for pick up and play arcade thrills, but Scrap Metal simply isn’t delivered with enough gusto to make much of an impact, with the looseness of many elements resulting in a game that is ultimately quite forgettable.

If Scrap Metal was nothing but arena deathmatch missions, it would be much harder to recommend. An awkward camera angle and the lack of creative characters would keep it from being worth the asking price. However, the variety of vehicle types and mission objectives should satisfy car combat fans looking for signs of life in the genre.

A fun, chaotic race game with a generous collection of missions, vehicles and weapons. The game could have been so much better with more precise controls, though. Thanks to that, Scrap Metal will always stand in the shadow of games like Death Rally, Rock‘n’Roll Racing and R.C. Pro-Am.

Scrap Metal is an excellent product if you have good memories of the old bird's eye racing games. It's not the most content-rich racer out there, but the hysterical setting filled with speed, dirt and destruction is still worth getting on with.

Solid old-school arcade racing with plenty of nostalgia that strikes the mood of classics such as Twisted Metal and Carmageddon. But a lack of customization options and unpolished graphics leave you wanting more.

We like Scrap Metal because we like dirty cars and you get a lot of them in this game. You have to buy this game if you are a fan of this genre. But if not, then wait until it is cheaper. For the ones being not a fan it is not worth 1200 MS-Points.

With 20-plus cars to unlock (and upgrade) and modes ranging from straight-up, no-weapons racing to missions where you protect a VIP--all of which are seriously more fun when up to four buddies join in--Scrap Metal is more than worth the $10 download. [Jun 2010, p.81]

If you’re itching for a car-combat game without pretenses and don’t mind the price it’s difficult to make an argument for anything else on Microsoft’s service other than Scrap Metal. Just be aware that what you see is what you get and that the game’s lifespan is severely undercut by the lack of single-player modes outside of the otherwise respectable mission-based content.